Life With A Knight and Dragon
by WalkersMadHouse
Summary: <html><head></head>Sequel to A Return Worth Waiting For. The story follows with Natsu and Erza into the main story with some differences. Rated M for safety, Gore, Swearing, and MINOR adult themes.</html>
1. The Salamander Rumor

**So here is the official sequel to _A Return Worth Waiting For._ While you don't have the read the prequel, it's recommended to know the changes I've made. Anyways, I do hope you enjoy. Please know while this story is rated M, it's for safety reason as it will contain swearing, some gore, and minor adult themes. **

Talking – "Quotations"

Thoughts –_ 'Italics with contractions'_

Important words, people, etc. – **Bold**

Spells – **Underlined and bold**

_**The Life of a Dragon and Knight**_

_**Chapter 1: The Salamander Rumor**_

To many, it was a fairly…average day. Assuming average means a brawl going on between the two signature members of a guild. The fight going on between the two members were that of two young men. One with spiky raven hair while the other has spike rose colored hair. Many people were simply laughing at what caused it. The cause of such an event being a muscular white haired man pushed into the rose haired mage while flaunting about manliness; causing the rose haired mage to stumble and head butt the raven haired mage.

"I'm going to kick your ass Flame-Brain!" The raven haired mage roared as he furiously tried to pound the rose haired mage into the ground.

"Like that will ever happen Ice-Queen!" The rose haired mage, 'Flame-Brain' retorted. The fight went on with the two crawling all over the ground beating on each other until a certain red-head stood over the two fighting.

"Now, now Natsu. What have I told you about fighting?" The red-head calmly asked as she picked up Natsu by the back of his vest, him struggling to escape from her grasp. She normally would have pummeled the two of them for their antics a year ago but now she simply ends it in ways some people wonder if it's really the same fearsome Titania from a year ago.

"Come on Erza! Let me at 'em this one time!" the rose haired mage, now identified as Natsu, desperately retorted, struggling to get back to fighting with his friend/rival, who was getting off the ground, prepared to resume their fight.

"Hah! As if you could win Flame-Brain." The raven haired mage insulted with a smirk on his face. Natsu simply raged comically, with fire spewing out of his mouth as he rambled incoherently while the Titania female held him up, dangling by the back of his vest.

"Natsu, Stop. Now. You too Gray." Erza glared, ceasing any resistance from the dragon slayer and ending any smart remarks from the ice mage. "Now, let us be off Natsu." She continued and dropped Natsu and turned towards the door, with Natsu starting to follow her.

Minutes later as the pair walked towards the train station, Natsu had to ask. "Why are we going to **there** again?"

"Don't you remember Natsu? There's a rumor saying there's a 'salamander' there. It could be your father!" Erza said in more carefree tone, wanting to help Natsu reunite with his father at all cost.

"But it could just be someone trying to use my name." Natsu said in a monotone voice.

"True." Erza said, closing her eyes with a thinking look on her face, "But if that's the case, we'll just beat them up." With that ended, the pair continued to walk towards the train station in silence, Erza not thinking about anything in particular and Natsu wondering how he heard the rumor.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Flashback<strong>_

_Natsu was for once, not doing much at the guild simply talking to Mira about what kind of flaming food he should have with Erza sitting right next to him at the bar eating her cake. Flaming meat seemed to be the preference for him, nothing else. Soon though someone called out to the Salamander._

"_Oi! Natsu!"_

_Natsu turned toward the voice. "Yes Wakaba?"_

"_I heard a rumor that may pertain to your father." The man stated with a small smile on his face._

_Natsu's eyes lit up somewhat. It may be a rumor, but it was good enough for him; even Erza turned a head, quite yearning to help Natsu find his father._

"_It's said that there's a certain Salamander in Hargeon Port. It could be nothing but I'd say it's worth a check." The middle aged man stated._

"_Alright! I'm heading out!" Natsu said, apparently all up and ready to go find his foster-father. That is, until a certain female hand held him down by the shoulder._

"_How about you wait a short bit and I shall accompany you?" Erza said with a small smile at him. "It should take no more than an hour"_

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>End of Flashback<strong>_

Arriving at the train station, the two got onboard and found a compartment for themselves and sat down directly across from each other. The two simply sat in silence until the train started to move, in which the rose haired dragon slayer turned slightly green.

"Still haven't gotten over your motion sickness I see." Erza said softly.

"Ugh. I've….been working….on it. It's getting….better." Natsu tried to answer, trying to contain his lunch. Erza soon got up and walked over and sat right next to him, push him into her, so he could have something to lean on. She no longer let him lay on her lap since they were together. With that the two ended up in a position where Erza was slightly laying on the seat up against the window with Natsu laying up against her stomach already sleeping contently; apparently finding Erza **very** comfortable to lay on.

Erza smiled contently at this. _'You say that, yet here you are still sick and laying on me, asleep.' After about an hour of unconsciously stroking her hand through Natus's hair, Erza finally lost herself to sleep. Unknown to her, one of the stops between then and their destination, a certain blue haired bookworm entered the train and saw the couple sleeping peacefully in their compartment._

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>The Next Day<strong>_

Walking through the streets of Hargeon, a young woman, with blonde hair, came upon a general store. A store she was hoping to find certain…items.

"Is this really the only magic store in town?!" The blonde asked herself quite appalled that such a sizeable city had only one magic shop.

"Ah! A customer! Good afternoon!" the shop owner greeted enthusiastically, rather uplifted since today was a slow day for the owner.

"Hello!" The young woman greeted.

"Is there anything I can help you find today, or are you just looking around?" The store owner asked politely

"Ah, now that you ask, I'm looking for specific items." The female stated, "Gate keys to be exact."

"Oh? A Celestial mage? Well, not many people here use magic but I do happen to have one! It's the **Gate of Canis Minor**. It's not very strong I'm afraid." The shop owner apologized.

"It's ok! I've been looking for this one anyways." The young female replied cheerfully. "How much?"

"20,000 jewels." The shop owner stated

The blonde's heart stopped for a moment, unable to comprehend the price. She instead, decided to ask to make sure. "Umm, sorry. How much did you say?" She asked, hopefully not dreading what she heard.

"20,000 jewels." The shop owner stated, somewhat annoyed his potential customer didn't listen the first time.

The blonde groaned in frustration. _'I really don't want to spend that much.'_ With that, the female the female leaned seductively over the counter, displaying more cleavage with her outfit than necessary. "20,000 even for a young girl like me?" She purred seductively.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>With Natsu and Erza<strong>_

"I can't believe you left me on the train….again!" Natsu whined comically at the red-head. It took 20 minutes before Erza was able to catch up to the train to stop it. Afterwards, the two walk through the streets looking for any signs of the rumor they heard of a 'salamander'.

"I said I was sorry!" Erza complained back, still trying to stifle a laugh from how Natsu was acting towards her. The two were walking endlessly, searching for any signs of the rumor before they heard some chatter from a couple civilians.

"Did you hear? The famous Salamander is here in town." An enthusiastic male asked one of his friends

"Yeah I did actually. He is very popular, I was going to go see him but he was surrounded by a crowd of fan-girls." The other male replied.

'_Charm magic eh? That's illegal. Well, it's not Igneel but we should check this out anyways.' _Erza thought, before turning to her rose haired companion. "Come Natsu, we have something of importance to do now."

"But I thought we were looking for Igneel?" Natsu complained

"He's not here. We came here on a rumor of a Salamander, but I just heard that he was here in town apparently using Charm Magic on various women to get attention. We have to stop him." Erza explained before walking ahead leaving Natsu to catch up.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>With the 'Blonde Female'<strong>_

"Only a reduction of 1,000 jewels!? Is my sex appeal only worth that much!?" The blonde teenager raged comically, storming off in a random direction in town.

"Look! It's Salamander!" A random woman squealed in delight. This caught the blonde's attention as she saw other females soon rush over to form a crowd around a single person.

"Hahaha! Now ladies, there's plenty of me to go around." A carefree male voice rang out in response to his 'fan-base'.

This quirked the blonde somewhat. Especially at the somewhat cocky attitude of the male. She came upon the crowed and tried to look over the heads of all the people. _'Dammit! I can't see anything!'_ She slowly nudged herself into the crowd to get a better look at this 'salamander'. To her surprise she came upon a fairly handsome blue haired man with an 'X' like tattoo above his right eyebrow. Upon gazing upon him, she immediate felt her heart race.

"Oh? What do we have here? My, my, are you are quite the looker milady." 'Salamander' stated, talking directly to the blonde female.

"You there!" A stern female voice rang out. The crowd of fan-girls parted to show a red-headed woman and a rose-haired man coming this way.

"You were right. It's not Igneel as I would have hoped." The rose-haired man said, somewhat downed.

"I told you that the moment we started hearing the talk around town." Erza retorted.

Something clicked in the blonde, as if she was taken out of a trance? '_Huh? What the? For a moment I felt like I was in love? Was this…charm magic? But that's illegal! But, perhaps he just uses it to be popular…' _The blonde thought as she was released from the effect of the charm magic.

"You. Are you the one everyone calls 'Salamander'?" The Titania asked with a small amount of force behind her voice.

"Isn't it obvious?" The blue-haired man replied as he motioned to his fan-girls who grew bigger hearts in their eyes. "Would you like an autograph?" He asked, somewhat cockily.

"That can wait. Tell me, what guild are you from?" Erza asked with authority.

"You haven't heard?" one of the random surrounding women yelled.

"He's from the famous Fairy Tail guild!" Another screamed out.

That settled it for the couple. An evil smirk appeared on the red-head's face. "Oh? Is that so?" She asked with an evil tone. "It's funny. We're a part of the same guild, yet…I find it quite odd that I have never seen your face before." She stated, her smirk growing larger and her face darkening.

Inwardly the 'Salamander' was freaking out. '_Shit! This isn't good! I guess I can't blame anyone else since sooner or later the real guild was going to find out.'_ He had to do something. **Fast.** "Hahaha! That's a nice one!" He laughed as if they were telling a joke.

"It wasn't a joke." Erza stated darkly. With that, she pulled up the sleeve to the black turtle neck sweater she was wearing to reveal a dark blue Fairy Tail stamp on her left arm while Natsu took off his red jacket **[A/N: The jacket he wears at the first chapter/episode]** to reveal a red Fairy Tail stamp on his right arm. This caused the 'Salamander' to visibly sweat; there was no good way out of this for him. "Let me tell you one more thing." Erza continued as she saw what the effect of showing their guild marks had on the imposter, "This man behind me, is the **real **'Salamander' of Fairy Tail." Natsu in response to that, grinned widely, raised his right hand up and set his fist ablaze.

The blonde female was looking at the scene in awe. The man she thought was the 'Salamander' was actually a fake trying to use the name to get famous; on top of that he was called out on it by two **real** Fairy Tail mages. _'That sure didn't look good on him.'_ The blonde inwardly smirked.

The fake 'salamander' was sweating bullets and soon lost the ability to think rationally as he lashed out. "Agh! Damn you!" He charged at Erza with the intent to beat her senseless. That is, if he wasn't met face first with the fist of said woman; stopping him dead in his tracks and sending him to the ground in a daze.

"Hmph. Weak." Erza smirked at how easy the man was taken down. She then turned to Natsu who looked bored. Apparently he was looking for a good fight. "Come Natsu. Let's head home." Natsu nodded and turned to start walking to the train station.

"Wait!" A female voice rang out. Causing the pair to stop and turned to the source of the voice.

"Yes?" Natsu asked in his still bored voice.

"Allow me to thank you." The blonde woman stated

Natsu and Erza had confusion written all over their faces as they stared comically at the teenager. "For what?"

"For helping out with that Charm Magic earlier. At least let me treat you to food." The blonde requested.

The couple did not know what the blond was talking about in the least. However, they could not deny free food. They both haven't ate for the majority of the day.

"So you guys are from the Fairy Tail guild?" The blonde asked in wonder.

"Yep." Erza answered with a smile while Natsu was busy mowing down all the dishes in front of him; some of the dishes being the plates included.

The blonde woman soon realized something wrong. "Oh! My apologies! I'm Lucy by the way." The blonde, now identified as Lucy introduced herself.

"Oh it's no worries." Erza said with a slight laugh. "I'm Erza Scarlet and this here is Natsu Dragneel."

Natsu stopped eating and gave his signature toothy grin, "Nice to meet ya!"

"So Lucy, is it safe to assume you can perform magic as well?" Erza asked quite curious seeing as he the blonde teenager was aware she was under the influence of Charm Magic.

"Uh-huh. I'm a mage as well. I'm a wandering mage at the moment however since I'm still looking for a guild to join. I was actually wanting to join your guild." Lucy said with a hopeful look.

"Is that so?" Erza said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! Though, I'm not sure I can do it, I bet it's extremely hard to join a guild such as yours." Lucy said a bit sadly.

"Nonsense. You will get in no problem!" Natsu practically yelled, gaining the attention of the other customers at the restaurant they were at.

"Really!?" Lucy asked with stars in her eyes at the possibility of joining the guild she has so longed to join.

"Of course! Almost anyone can join our guild." Natsu confirmed with a smile on his face.

"Yay! I want to hug you now!" Lucy said in an over exaggerated tone as she reached across the table, eyes closed, to give Natsu a hug, only to feel nothing. She opened her eyes to see Erza clinging to Natsu in a comical fashion.

"He's mine. Back off." Erza said both darkly and comically.

"Y-y-yes ma'am." Lucy saluted, quite scared at the red-head's possessiveness.

"Well. We better find a place to stay for the night. We'll leave in the morning back to the guild if you want to follow us then." Erza stated as she got up from the table with Natsu and walked away.

"Thanks for the food!" Natsu looked back with a grin and waved.

"Oh, no problem!" Lucy replied. '_There goes that 1,000 jewel discount'_ she internally lamented.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Later That Evening<strong>_

"So, we're heading back in the morning?" Natsu asked with his hands behind his head while walking next to his female companion.

"Yes. I'd figure it best we just stay here the night, leave in the morning, and arrive during the day rather than the night." Erza answered. "That and it would give us time for our potential new guild mate time to prepare to join us."

"Yes, well, she has every ri-" Erza was interrupted by a couple locals standing a small distance away.

"Did you hear? The Salamander is having a party on his cruise ship!" The local said with enthusiasm. "Sadly. I wasn't invited."

"Hahaha! Only the more popular people or beautiful women got invited. I hear he carried a beautiful sleeping blonde with him." Another local replied.

Erza's face darkened at this. "Does he ever learn?"

Natsu just shrugged with a confused look on his face. "Guess not. It also appears he may have Lucy."

"Yes, but there are more than just one blonde female in this city." Erza stated as she marched her way to the two locals, knocking over a couple of bystanders who got in her way. "You there! Where is this ship?"

"U-uh it's… uh…" He said no more as he was met with a head butt from the Titania; shocking the person the other local besides her.

"I find this oddly counterproductive…" Natsu noted with a smirk.

"Shut it you tiny dragon." Erza retorted as she turned her attention to the next local, leaving Natsu to rage comically at the insult. "Now, tell m-" She started before being interrupted again; this time by something she was glad.

"It's just right over there!" The man pointed to his left, causing the redhead to look in the direction he was pointing, her eyes settling on an illuminated ship in the bay. Erza proceeded to drop the man and started walking towards the beach with Natsu in tow.

"Care to give me a lift?" Erza asked

"Don't you have armor that allows to you the ability of flight?" Natsu asked both curious and annoyed that she wanted him to fly her to the ship.

"I do, but it's much more fun when I can sit on your back while you fly." Erza said with a soft smile.

"Fine." Natsu relented closing his eyes while sighing, "Just know I'm simply dropping you off. I'm not getting on that death trap."

"Good enough for me. Now let's go!" Erza commanded.

"Right." Natsu saluted crouching down allowing Erza to hoist herself on his back as he lit his feat ablaze; providing himself with the proper thrust to send him into the air. Upon reaching his desired height he lit his hands ablaze to keep his balance and direction.

"Just drop me off when you get over it" Erza yelled over the sound of wind hitting the two. Natsu nodded and increased speed as he got over the ship before he slowed down to allow Erza to properly align herself with the jump-to-be-made. _'Here I go.'_ She gave a thought as she jumped off.

'_Where….where am I?'_ Lucy asked to herself as she slowly shook herself awake. She moved to stretch her arms but realized she couldn't. _'Huh. I must have slept wrong.'_ She thought. That is…until she saw her arms were bound behind her back. "What the hell is this!?"

"Oh? Awake already." A familiar male voice called out. Causing Lucy's head to shoot forward to see the fake 'salamander' walk towards her with a cocky smirk on his face.

"You!" Lucy sneered.

"Yes. Me!" 'Salamander' laughed.

"Where am I?" Lucy asked angrily.

"Oh, if you must know, you're on my ship. Now before you start screaming and trying to lash out, let's be civil. After all, I don't want to have to brand you like I will the others." The blue haired man said with an evil smile.

In response to this, Lucy fully took in her surroundings and saw a couple other young women similarly bound, but still unconscious with a couple of guards near them. "This is…a slave ship?" Lucy asked in shock to no one in particular.

"That's right." The blue haired man answered before he pulled something out from behind him. A brown leather pouch. "I believe these were yours." He stated plainly.

"Ah! My gate keys!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I thought you were a Celestial Mage when I saw these on your person. However, if my assumptions are accurate, gate keys require a contract with their summoner; meaning other people like me can't use them. Therefore they are…" He then took the keys and threw them out an open window of the ship, intro the ocean. "USLESS!"

Lucy almost snapped at this. Mostly out of sheer terror at how a certain one of her spirits will react when 'it' learns she lost 'its' key. "You bastard! How could you!?" Lucy shrieked.

"Jeez, so noisy. Maybe I will have to brand you like all the others." He said rubbing the back of his neck before lighting his index finger in a deep blue/purple flame.

A loud crash rang through the ship as a female figure with scarlet hair. "I knew you were suspicious, but to think you were transporting people to be slaves." The young woman sneered.

"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hey! Don't I get any recognition?!" Natsu's voice slightly rang out from the hole in the ships ceiling.

"Yeah, yeah Natsu." Erza mumbled with a bored look before she turned her attention to the 'salamander'.

"Boss! Do you even know who that woman is!?" one of the 'salamander's' men shouted in sheer shock.

"Eh? What?" The blue-haired man looked at one of his men with a dumbfounded look.

"S-s-she is the Titania Fairy Queen of Fairy Tail!" The man exclaimed.

Erza, upon hearing this looked at the group of human traffickers with an upmost evil smile.

For minutes on end, a sound of men screeching from sheer terror and pain, metal cracking, slicing, and blowing up. The blowing up courtesy of Natsu flying overhead while launching attacks from the sky.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>One Hour Later<strong>_

"Thanks for saving me you two." A blonde teenager thanked.

"No problem Lucy! Though it was more Erza than me that helped." Natsu exclaimed with his signature grin. The sounds of a collapsing clock tower echoing behind him while Lucy's eyes just bulged out of her head when she noticed the destruction he caused with one attack.

"You over did it!" Lucy screeched.

"Really? I think I kept it to a minimum compared to other times." Natsu deadpanned while rubbing his ear."

"Nonetheless, you could have not used that attack Natsu." Erza said with a soft smile towards her rose haired companion, looking at a large trench like hole that lead all the way to the ruins of the clock tower, the fake 'salamander' lying in the middle of it all.

Natsu simply scratched his head with a sheepish laugh.

"You three, halt this instance!" A stern male voice rang out. Causing the trio to look in the direction of the voice. The voice coming from one of…what appeared to be hundreds of rune knights.

"Crap! Rune knights!" Lucy screeched.

"Let's go Natsu!" Erza commanded, grabbing Natsu by the hand and running off.

"Come on Lucy!" Natsu yelled back as he was being dragged away by the scarlet haired woman.

"Huh why?" Lucy asked, geniuinely confused as she followed them.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail right?" Natsu asked while he was struggling not to trip with how hard Erza was pulling him; barely taking notice of Lucy nodding.

"Then follow us!" Erza said with a smile.

**I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. For now I'm going to try to keep the chapters around 3,000 - 4,000 words at least. This does mean however it will take longer for me to work but I feel it works better this way. Anyways, if you guys enjoyed this, read the prequel if you haven't yet, ask me any questions you may have, give me suggestions for ideas, leave a review if you wish. See you all later.**


	2. Welcome To Fairy Tail!

**Hello again good people. About a month has passed since the last update. I have my reasons. Anyways, I wrote a good portion of this story between school and while I was under a decent deal of stress so my writing quality may have suffered in various spots (in my humble opinion that is). As you may notice, I do take more time to update but I try to make sure the chapters in turn, are longer (I aim for each chapter to be at least 3,000 words). Anyways enjoy!**

Talking – "Quotations"

Thoughts –_ 'Italics with contractions'_

Important words, people, etc. – **Bold**

Spells – **Underlined and bold**

_**The Life of a Dragon and Knight**_

_**Chapter 2: Welcome to Fairy Tail**_

About a full day was what it took for the trio to arrive to their destination. Magnolia. The location of the famous…or infamous, Fairy Tail guild. The trio, although, a certain red-head was being carried on a rose haired man's back, contently asleep, with her arms and legs wrapped securely around his neck and waist to keep from falling off.

"It's almost hard to believe that the famous Titania looks so…innocent…and content, sleeping on your back." The blonde female stated in disbelief. Halfway through the trek to Magnolia the red-head asked if the dragon slayer would mind her sleeping on his back as he carried her, to which the dragon slayer didn't mind and she dozed right off. She imagined a hardened warrior who never let her guard down. Not a kindhearted woman who could drop her guard around those she cared for.

"That's what we thought when she came back from a training trip that lasted a year. She was actually what many expected. Shut in, socially awkward, stern, and righteous and so on. She keeps a lot of these traits intact but fairly less noticeable, mostly around me." Natsu explained.

"Why did she leave?" Lucy inquired.

"She has her reasons. Ask her if you want to know." Natsu replied plainly before he turned to the sleeping red-head clinging to his neck. "Oi! Erza! We're almost in town." Natsu shook his body somewhat to ease the sleeping woman awake only for her to mumble.

"5 more minutes Natshu, you're too comfy." Erza mumbled before nuzzling her head into Natsu's neck; earning an amused look from both the dragon slayer and the blonde celestial mage. Natsu realized he'd have to be…mean to awake the sleeping scarlet haired woman. He turned to the blonde teenager and stated in an overly loud voice, "What's that you say Lucy? A Date? Sure I-" Natsu was cut off when he felt the cold steel of a sword pressed against his throat; courtesy of a now fully away Erza Scarlet.

"You're not leaving me for another woman so easily Natsu." Erza said with a very dark smirk apparent on her face, hoping to scare Natsu. To her surprise the rose haired teen just smirked.

"I wasn't being serious, but it woke you up." Natsu stated with his smirk just widening looking at Erza's shocked expression before allowing the woman to get off his back.

"Damn you Natsu!" Erza raged, hitting Natsu over the head before crossing her arms under her chest with a comical pouting expression clearly shown on her face. "I was sleeping so comfortably too." She lamented.

"Hahaha! Don't be like that. I'll be sure to get you some of Mira's strawberry cake when we get to the guild." Natsu laughed sheepishly as he rubbed his head with one of his hands.

'_Well, they certainly must be together considering how they act around each other.'_ Lucy thought as she watched the series of events unfold in front of her between the Salamander and Titania.

"Anyways, let's head to the guild." The red-head stated suddenly snapping out of her comical lamenting. "I believe you are very eager to join the guild." She finished looking to Lucy with a small smile.

"Very!" the Celestial mage replied with a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Then let's not wait any longer! I haven't went fishing with Happy in forever!" Natsu roared as he started increasing his pace towards to nearby town.

"You went fishing less than three days ago." Erza deadpanned.

"But three days is basically forever!" Natsu pouted, earning a small giggle from the women at his antics; despite Lucy questioning who this 'Happy' was. "It's not funny!" Natsu further pouted.

"Alright. Alright. You can go fishing, but don't rush ahead. Stay with us." Erza finished with a smile as the trio finished the trip to the guild.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**A Little Bit Later, At The Guild**_

To say the least. Gray was bored. All he did at the guild, without Natsu, and not completing missions, was just sit in idle boredom at the bar and someone strike up a chat with the white haired bartender.

"You look bored, Gray." Mira stated, taking note of Gray's bored expression.

"Never thought I'd miss having Natsu around as often as he used to be. Kind of miss fighting with him." Gray spoke without putting much thought into what he just said.

"Oh! Did you just admit that you miss Natsu, Gray? How very kind of you." Cana teased, making Gray realize what he said.

"What?! No! Who would miss that dumbass!?" Gray asked in sheer shock in what he just said.

"Apparently you do." Mira smirked.

"Oi! No I do-" Gray was unable to finish when the doors burst open revealing a teenage male wearing a green jacket, blue shades, with short orange spiky hair.

"Guys! We have a problem!" The orange haired man basically yelled.

"What problem are you talking about Loke?" Gray asked rather irritated.

"Yeah. What could be so bad?" Cana asked lazily about to take another gulp of alcohol from a barrel next to her.

"Erza's back!" Loke shouted in fear.

Silence issued throughout the guild, as if this return was no big deal. The silence continued for a moment longer before Gray promptly broke it. "…And? I fail to see the problem here." Gray stated in a bored tone.

"B-b-but!" Loke started before he was cut off.

"You only see it as a problem because you tried hitting on her again recently; which she responded to beating you within an inch of your life." Cana laughed, causing the nearby members to laugh at their guild mate's misfortune at flirting with the Titania.

Mira simply smirked at this, accurately assuming why Erza reacted violently to Loke's advances.

"I assume since Erza's almost here, I can kick that Flame-Brain's ass." Gray smirked

"YOU'RE ON GRAY!" A loud voice roared as the door burst open to reveal Natsu with Erza and Lucy behind him. "This time I can prove I'm stronger than you!" Natsu roared as he started his charge towards Gray but failed as Erza reached out and grabbed the collar of his vest.

"Not now Natsu. We have to see to it that Lucy can get into the guild." The scarlet haired woman stated.

While Erza gave a light scolding to Natsu and Gray, Lucy was in her own little world at being in the very guild she dreamt of joining. "Wow, so this is Fairy Tail." She said to herself in awe.

"So how do you like our little family?" A sweet voice came to her right, causing the blonde to turn to the source. The source being a very beautiful white haired woman.

"It's everything I imagined." Lucy answered happily, now ignoring a fight that broke out between Natsu, who broke away from Erza's scolding, and Wakaba over something about false information and some Igneel person.

"That's good! You'll get along just fine here then. Everyone here is family and we do everything we can for each other." The white haired beauty explained.

"Mira! I need more alcohol!" A middle age man with blue hair yelled.

Mira simply smiled. "Coming right up!"

Lucy's eyes went wide. "You're THE Mira?! As in Mirajane Strauss from the front of the Sorcerer Magazine?!"

Mira simply tilted her head to side, eyes closed, and smiled. "Yup! Now let's get you a guild stamp."

Lucy was nearly taken aback by this. _'Is it just as simple as that? Just getting a guild stamp?'_ She thought, quite appalled, but simply replied. "Right!"

As the two were walking to the bar the fight that started between Natsu and Wakaba soon escalated to where a good portion of the guild was joined in. "Incoming!" a random guild member shouted, causing Mira and Lucy to stop dead in their tracks as Wakaba flew right in front of them and crashed headfirst into the wall.

"Looks like they're having fun." Mira stated

"Is it always like this?" Lucy asked, quite shocked that the famous Fairy Tail was this carefree and…loud.

"Yup! This is basically how everyone bonds." Mira explained.

"Right." Lucy said, as she now looked back to see Erza dragging Natsu away from the fight with him kicking and shouting, clearly trying to join back in on the 'fun'. "So tell me, are Natsu and Erza a couple?" Lucy asked

Mira's smile dropped for a second as she gave some thought on the matter. "So you thought that too huh? I'd say just from how they act around each other and how they are almost inseparable, yes they are indeed a couple, but they have yet to say anything to anyone else about it. Then again they are not trying to hide it." Mira noted.

"I see." Lucy said without thinking, looking over to the duo now sitting with Natsu comically pouting with Erza laughing at his inability to rejoin the brawl.

Mira set a mug in front of Macao before turning back to Lucy. "So what color and where would you like your guild mark?" Mira asked, prepared to grab the appropriate colored stamp.

"Um. Pink. On the back of my right hand." Lucy said, excited as she held out her right hand so Mira could stamp it. Upon getting the Fairy Tail stamp on her hand, Lucy excitedly went over to Natsu and Erza to show them her new mark. "Guys! I got my mark!" She proudly showed her hand to the (secret?) couple.

"Congratulations Lucy!" Natsu cheered with a toothy smile.

"I'm sure you'll be right at home here at the guild." Erza said with a smile. "Oh, speaking of which. Lucy, where are you going to be staying? I can probably get you a place to live at Fairy Hill." Erza offered.

"Oh! No thanks. I'd much prefer to get an apartment elsewhere. Though I'm not quite sure where to start looking." Lucy pondered.

"I can help you with that." Mira said as she walked over from the bar. "I can even let you stay with me for the day and we'll go looking tomorrow." She then offered.

"Thank you!" Lucy exclaimed. She then turned to Erza and was about to say something before Erza said something first.

"When you get done looking for an apartment, you might want to go on some jobs." Erza stated. "Me and Natsu can do the first couple jobs with you so you can get a feel for working on teams and how the whole contract thing works. That way, you can maybe come up with your own teams. That is, if you want." Erza offered.

"I'll think about it." Lucy said with a smile before she soon left the guild with Mira. Not too long after that Natsu and Erza left as well.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**Later At Erza's Apartment at Fairy Hills**_

"I still find it ironic that the head girl of Fairy Hills, the enforcer of the rules. and the definition of 'innocence' invites a guy into her room almost every night at a place where men are not allowed." A rose haired mage stated with a smirk as he and a scarlet haired woman walked into the r00m on top floor of the building.

"I know. Quite fun, don't you think." The scarlet haired woman responded with a devious smirk as she pushed the rose haired mage on the bed, followed by the woman jumping on top of him.

"Imagine the guilds reaction when they learn you sneak me into your room." Natsu smirked.

"Speaking of sneaking people into a room. We should move in together." Erza suggested as she looked down at Natsu's look of confusion. "What? You don't want to?" She then asked with a slight look of hurt.

"No. It's not that I don't like the idea of it. In fact, I really want to." Natsu answered truthfully. "It's just that, I don't' think you can keep sneaking me up here every time and my place isn't exactly big enough."

Erza simply giggled at this. "Silly. I don't mean move into one of our own places. I mean we should get a new place, if not straight up build one." She explained.

"Where would we get the money?" Natsu stated, clearly not thinking about where to get the money.

Erza simply deadpanned at her dragon slayer's stupidity. _'Smarts are definitely not his strong suit.'_ She thought before she explained. "Natsu, who do you think you're talking to?" She asked.

"Um. The most beautiful woman in the world?" The fire mage answered as if it's obvious.

"Cute. But No. I'm an S-Class mage Natsu. Do you know what means?" Erza questioned while smirking at Natsu's attempts to flatter her.

"Kickass missions?" He question.

"No." Erza said as she lightly flicked his head. "Well. Actually yes. The missions can be quite fun, but I mean the pay. The pay for some of these mission alone are enough for us to build a sizable home for us and our future family."

"Family…" Natsu trailed off as he looked rather spaced out.

"Something wrong Natsu?" Erza said with worry written on her face.

"I've always wanted a family. I mean, the guild is family but I mean a _real_ family, one by blood I guess. I don't know how to explain it." Natsu answered somewhat sadly.

"Tell you what," Erza started with a soft smile as she moved her head down to capture the dragon slayer's lips in a short kiss before pulling back, "once we build our future home. I'll see to it that we can start a family together. Is that fine?"

"It's better than fine!" Natsu exclaimed before wrapping his arms around Erza's waist before lifting his head up to the red-head's face to re-engage in their kiss. Soon enough, both side's desires were rising, before Erza took notice of the look in Natsu's eyes and pulled back.

"It would appear the look in your eyes have different plans on the family part." Erza said with a lustful smirk. "Nothing wrong with starting a family sooner." She finished as she hurriedly resumed the heated make out session with the dragon slayer as the clothes quickly came off. The result was a night of passion for the couple.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**The Following Morning**_

"So, how much money do you think we'll need for this house?" Natsu asked as he swung his vest on and started walking to the window.

"Well. I'd like plenty of space, for both our future family and any guest we may have." Erza explained. "Also, I would like to have it on the outskirts of town, near the woods, similar to your home." Natsu simply look back at Erza and shrugged at this. He didn't much care where the new home was, but he did like it being a bit more isolated. "So in total. I think it would be safe to say we'll need about two million jewels." Erza finished.

"It would appear we have our work cut out for us." Natsu commented with an unusual sage like tone.

"That it is. However, we should look to make sure Lucy gets settled in first before we start trying to devote our time to getting more funds." Erza noted. With this, the pair prepared to leave, Erza saw Natsu open the window, preparing to jump out before she had to ask once again. "You're taking the 'express' elevator again?" Erza said with false curiosity.

Natsu simply looked back at Erza with a smirk. "Well I don't want to ruin your 'perfect' image quite yet." He replied before turning his back and jumped out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**At the Guild**_

"Mira, where did my father go?" a young dark haired boy asked the white haired bartender with a look of worry on his face.

"Oh! Romeo, how are you?" Mira asked in a upbeat voice, hopefully trying to lighten the young boy's sullen mood.

"I'm ok. Just wondering about my father." The young boy responded.

"I believe he told you he was going on a mission to Mt Hakobe. Don't you remember?" Mira asked, the smile finally dropping from her face as she looked at boy.

"I know, but he should be back by now right?" The boy asked with worry.

"That place is quite the distance away and the mission itself was an extermination. Give him time Romeo. We can't do anything right now for him. Just have faith." Mira responded with a soft smile full of compassion on her face.

Romeo seemed to finally accept this, his mood finally lifted a bit. "Right! No one can beat my father!" With that, the boy ran out of the guild just as Natsu and Erza were coming in.

"Good morning Erza! Natsu!" The white haired beauty greeted.

"Hello Mira." Erza greeted with a small smile. "It would seem Romeo is in a good mood today.

"Well, I had to cheer him up a bit, you could say. Worried about his father being gone for two days." Mira quickly explained.

"Macao will be alright! He's a strong mage!" Natsu cheered, to no one in particular, throwing his fist in the air.

Erza stifled a giggle at the rose haired mage's antics before turning to the bartender. "Oh, Mira, where is Lucy? I'd figure she'd be with you since you offered to find her a place to stay." The scarlet haired woman asked.

"Oh. She was here about an hour ago, but Levy and the rest of Team Shadow Gear showed up and the two of them hit it off pretty well. So much in fact, that Lucy went on a mission with them." Mira explained.

Erza and Natsu were at first hurt at this, but quickly recovered as they knew celestial mage was quickly making friends. "Well, I was hoping to see how she performs on mission, but it's great she's already making friends." Erza said.

"Yeah, but this also works out for us too." Natsu noted.

Mira was rather puzzled at this. _'Works out for them? What could they have planned?'_ "Oh? You two had something else planned?"

"Well, yes. However we were going to put it off until Lucy got settled in around here. Natsu and I were going to build up some money by going on a couple S-Class missions."

"What do you need money for? Natsu here probably doesn't really need money as he built his own house, and hunts his own food. He only needs money to buy clothes when he needs them, which is not very often. You on the other hand Erza, already have a decent amount of money." Mira stated, apparently knowing quite well of how much money the two of them had and if they needed more or not.

"Yes. That is true, but Natsu and I need more so we can build another house. A rather large one at that." The Titania explained.

"So you two are together!" Mira exclaimed, thankfully not loud enough for some of the other members to make sense of it.

"Uh, yeah? Does this surprise you?" Natsu asked with a deadpanned expression.

"Actually no. I've seen the way Erza looked at you in the past, and knew how she wanted to be with you, but I couldn't confirm it until recently when you didn't deny it just now." Mira explained with a cheerful expression, secretly happy that her longtime former rival finally got together with the man she had her sights on.

"Relationships aside Mira, Natsu and I are taking this mission." Erza interjected, obviously not very comfortable with Mira tell Natsu about Erza's obsession with him, by handing her a contract.

"Oh? This one huh?" Mira stated, suddenly more serious. "Eliminate Scavenger's Hide, Contractor location in Hargeon Port. I see, so you want to take out the guild that took Natsu hostage?" Mira questioned.

"The personal reasons are just a bonus, but the pay is what we're after." Erza explained, slightly grimacing at the events that took place a couple months ago.

"I see, very well! I shall write this down." Mira stated quickly cheerful again. "Be careful and don't have too much **fun** you two."

Erza's face quickly adorned a blush as she quickly turned away and headed to the doors of the guild with Natsu following behind her.

**That concludes this chapter! Word of note, I will most likely not write out many of the main canon fights (Lullaby, Galuna Island, Phantom Lord, etc) as many other stories do this and if any of you are like me, I honestly don't like reading the same thing with very similar endings so I'm going to straight up skip them and only touch on them, or make them brief. In turn I hope to write out my own, if not just to improve my ability to write out a fight scene. Also, Aravind, I do plan to put a touch jealousy around the Edolas arc when/if I get to it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, if you liked/disliked the chapter/story, leave a review/comment, ask me anything you want, or simply leave a suggestion.**


	3. Getting Money and Retrieving Macao

**Ok, so this chapter is a little shorter than the previous one (which was even shorter than the first one D:) my apologies, the ideas simply weren't flowing towards me that well this time. I know I said I should have more time to work on this story and I actually did. But Dragon Age: Inquisition. The temptation was too great. Anywho, I tried to progress a bit farther into the story with this chapter while adding some things of my own as you will read. I would say I would like to update soon, but with some of the holidays coming up and my working a lot of hours to pay for Christmas shopping, I won't guarantee anything. I'll try to keep the updates to once a month** **hopefully. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Talking – "Quotations"

Thoughts –_ 'Italics with contractions'_

Important words, people, etc. – **Bold**

Spells – **Underlined and bold**

_**The Life of a Dragon and Knight**_

_**Chapter 3: Gathering Money and Retrieving Macao**_

"Ah. I didn't think I'd see you again, Salamander. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised." A low toned voiced male spoke, sitting down across the table from the Salamander and his red haired companion. The man in question had sharp eyes with an emotionless face, with a dark blue t-shirt and dark gray pants.

It took Natsu a moment to remember who the contact sitting across from him was. Then it hit him. "Ah! You're that Scavenger guild guy who helped me escape!" Natsu said suddenly yelling.

A look of confusion and minor annoyance took the man's normally expressionless face. "I have a name you know."

Natsu's red haired companion simply smacked him across the head, casuing the dragon slayer's head to hit the table in turn. "Natsu, that's not very polite. Please forgive him Gerik. Natsu is not the best with placing names with faces." The red-head apologized.

"No need Titania." Gerik responded by waving his hands in front of him with a small smile. The last couple months clearly did something for his normally stoic behavior. "If it wasn't for him, I'd still be in a dead-end guild."

Natsu's head quickly shot back up, now a more serious look adorning his face. "Speaking of which."

"Ah yes. The mission. Of course. The mission as you've hopefully seen by now is to eliminate the Scavenger's Hide guild."

"That much we did know. Though if you don't mind my asking, what are they doing and why do you want them gone?" The Titania questioned.

"To start with, they are not doing anything different than what they tried to do to Salamander previously. Capture potentially noticeable people and try to ransom them off. What further sickens me is even the tactics used are the same. As to why I want them gone. Personal reasons aside, they hurt too many innocent people, even if they are not actively doing so."

Both the Fairy Tail mages nodded and stood up from the table; Natsu already walking towards the door of the small restaurant they were in. Erza however, had one final question.

"Are they still in the same place?"

Gerik simply closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes. Still in that pathetic excuse for a base. Anything else?"

"That is all." The scarlet haired woman replied before walking out of the restaurant, turning to see Natsu waiting outside. "Let's go Natsu."

Natsu simply smirked. "Finally! Time for some payback!"

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>At Fairy Tail<strong>_

"We're back Mira!" A short blue haired girl yelled as she pushed open the doors to the guild.

The white haired bartender quickly turned to see Team Shadow Gear plus Fairy Tail's newest member, Lucy walking into the guild. "Levy! Welcome back. How was the mission?"

Lucy's expression turned from a warm smile to a scarred one when she remembered the mission she completed with her temporary team. "Oh. It was….interesting. But it went alright. Sadly due to certain events, we refused the reward."

"I see. How was Lucy's performance?" The bartender asked with piqued curiosity.

"Very good considering she just joined." The short blue haired girl replied happily.

Lucy looked around while the bartender and solid script mage chatted about her performance on the mission and noticed something was off. It seemed too quiet. "Say…Where are Natsu and Erza?" She then cut in.

The conversation between the blunette and the bartender stopped while the latter replied. "Oh, they went on a mission yesterday morning when they learned you left for a mission already."

Lucy's face went to pure shock. "I TOTALLY FORGOT! Oh man! I hope they're not upset!" she lamented as she started to panic.

"Quite the opposite in fact!" Mira chirped. "They were actually holding off doing a mission anyways to help you get settled in, so when they learned you already found a team to help out they simply left minutes after."

"Oh. That's good." Sighed the Celestial mage in relief she didn't upset her friends. "I wonder what kind of mission they are doing right now." She then wondered.

"I bet Erza's taking Natsu on a boring escort mission. That way he doesn't destroy everything." Levy guessed.

"You sure?"

* * *

><p>"<strong>FIRE DRAGONS BRILLIANT FLAME!"<strong> Roared Natsu as he unleashed a gigantic fire ball against a mob of enemies, engulfing all of them, ending with an explosion that toppled a portion of the 'castle'. "Oi! Erza! That makes 73 for me!"

Erza simply finished taking down 14 enemies at once; now clad in her **Heaven's Wheel Armor**. "81 for me. Looks like you will be buying me strawberry cake when we get home." Erza smirked as she turn to see an utmost comical raging Natsu at being beaten by Erza again. Erza's smirk simply widened further before she continued. "What? I'm not going to hold back. There's strawberry cake to fight for!"

Natsu was about to retort before another wall exploded, causing the pair to turn to see the 'guild master' walk in. The man looked intimidating enough, wearing a black cloak with the hood up and a blank black mask with only his bright blue eyes being shown. This however, did not intimidate Natsu; instead, he smirked. "Erza! This guy counts for 20!" Before charging headlong into battle.

* * *

><p>"Hm. I guess you may be right." Lucy mused to herself before realizing that Levy has long since forgone waiting for her reply and was chatting happily with Jet and Droy at a nearby table. Lucy comically hung her head at being so easily forgotten and ignored.<p>

Mira simply smiled at this before she looked to a brunette drinking alcohol out of a barrel. "Cana! Watch the bar for a bit."

"Do I get more free beer?" The drunk brunette slurred.

"No, and if I find any missing drinks. You shall find yourself without alcohol for a month." The white haired beauty said sternly, showing quite a lot of intimidation with her eyes; leaving Lucy very scared. Soon enough though, Cana quickly sobered up and Mira turned to Lucy, motioning her to follow.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked as she followed Mira out of the guild.

"To find you a suitable place to live of course!" Mira said with a bright smile.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>A Couple Days Later in Magnolia<strong>_

"No! I got that last hit in! I beat him!" A male voice rang out towards his female companion.

"Oh? Is the little dragon all mad the knight has beaten him?" A female voice playfully teased.

"No! I just-" He was cut off.

"Natsu!" A child like voice cried out. This caused Natsu and Erza to turn to the source of the voice and saw a crying Romeo running towards him.

"Romeo? What's wrong?" Natsu asked with concern as he knelt down to let the young boy hug him.

"I-It's my dad. He hasn't come back yet. I told Mira and the master about it, but they told me not to worry." The boy cried. Natsu was surprised at this and looked up to Erza, who looked back with concern in her eyes.

"Mira told me about the mission he took. It was an extermination mission to take out Vulcans on Mt. Hakobe. It could be likely something went wrong." Erza explained.

Natsu simply looked back to the boy. "Right. Romeo will you do something for me?" he questioned the boy, causing him to look up with a questioning look. "Stay strong. Erza and I will get your father back." Natsu requested with a warm smile.

The boy finally gained a look of hope and happiness that his idol would so willingly go bring his father home. With a happy nod, the boy went home to anxiously await his father's return. "Before we go, Natsu, we need to tell the guild of this." Erza stated.

"Right. Perhaps we can bring Lucy along." Natsu suggested.

"Not a bad idea. We may need the help in the event should we be overwhelmed." Erza answered. With this the pair continued down the streets of Magnolia; edging ever so closer to the Fairy Tail guild.

After a few moments the two entered the guild to which they were promptly greeted by Mira.

"Welcome back you two!" The white haired bartender greeted happily.

"Thank you Mira." Erza thanked before she continued. "Unfortunately, Natsu and I are leaving right about now. We just wanted to let you know we've finished the mission and we're going to Mt. Hakobe to get Macao." Erza explained.

"So Romeo came to you two to get his father back? He shouldn't be so worried." Mira stated with a solemn expression written on her face.

"He has right to be rather worried. It's been going on a week since he left for his mission. He should have been back in two days. Three tops." Erza explained.

"Also, we were wondering if Lucy wanted to come along." Natsu added in.

"I wouldn't mind tagging along if that's ok." Lucy chirped in.

"Excellent. We leave at once." Erza promptly stated before she turned to leave.

"Wait! I don't even get time to prepare!?" Lucy yelled in surprise "Don't you both need to get ready?"

"We're always ready." Natsu answered with a smirk before he nodded to Erza who simply brought out a bag from her pocket dimension and handed to him. "See?"

Lucy's eyes went wide before mumbling under her breath, "You guys are monsters" before she then continued louder. "At least give me one hour and I shall be ready."

Natsu almost frowned at this, wanting to leave right away, but was unable to object as Erza spoke first. "That is fine. Come meet us in one hour." Erza stated.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Later That Day on the Trail to Mt. Hakobe<strong>_

For the most part, the trio walked in relative silence. Happy once again stayed at Natsu's place, having become rather lazy once Natsu was no longer reliant on him to fly and spent more time with Erza, Natsu was more focused on reaching Macao and kept ahead of the other two, Erza simply had nothing to talk about, and Lucy was thinking of something to say. Finally something came to her.

"Hey Erza? I know it's great to care for other guild members, but Natsu seems to take this really seriously. Does he care greatly for Macao too?" She question with genuine curiosity.

"Well. Amongst Fairy Tail, we are all family and would do anything for one another. This is especially true for Romeo who Natsu feels a certain connection to." Erza explained.

"Really? How so?" Lucy asked.

"Natsu knows what it's like to lose a father to some extent. I'm not sure if its right for me to speak about his past but, Natsu's real family abandoned him when he was just a baby. Igneel, who he refers to as his father is actually his foster father; but even he mysteriously vanished 7 years ago leaving Natsu again without a father. So when Macao didn't come back Natsu sympathized with Romeo." Erza explained.

"Wow. That's so sad. To have such a past. Lucy looked down as she commented in sadness.

Erza simply mumbled quietly "Many in Fairy Tail have had a sad and tragic past."

"You say something Erza?" Lucy asked, thinking she heard the red-head say something.

Surprised, Erza quickly stuttered. "N-no. Nothing. Anyways, don't you think you should dress more warmly?" She quickly recovered with a question.

"Uh. No? Why?" Lucy asked, confused.

"We **are** going to Mt Hakobe." She answered.

"Ok? What of it?" The blonde continued to ask, clearly not understanding what the Titania was implying.

Erza simply remained silent, apparently not wanting to try to explain anymore. '_It's her 'loss' if she wants to go into the mountains dressed like __**that**__'_. She thought before she sped up her walk to catch up to Natsu who was walking a short distance ahead of them.

Lucy simply watched as the red-head caught up with the dragon slayer and started a light hearted chat with the mage. Lucy wasn't much paying attention to their conversation only catching bits of it such as 'money', 'house', 'family', but noticed how Erza was starting to push herself closer to the rose haired mage while said mage smiled warmly. '_Definitely a couple.' _She thought idly. For the next hour or so the trio walked in relative silence with Natsu and Erza idly chatting to each other until the couple heard a small chant followed by a bright light. The two then turned to see a walking grandfather clock with a shivering Lucy inside.

"Uhh. Lucy what are you doing?" Erza asked.

Lucy's mouth moved, but only the clock's voice was heard. "'It's cold'. She says. She then asks 'How are you guys not cold?'" The clock stated plainly.

"I use the fire variant of Dragon Slayer magic. Naturally my body heat is enough. If it's not, I can simply use my magic to increase my body temperature. The Salamander explained before he turned to Erza.

"I am used to the cold. However…." She turned to Natsu, "Since Natsu is basically a walking heater, I can use him to stay warm." She finished wrapping her arms around Natsu with what Lucy would describe as 'very adorable'.

"'You both are weird' she mumbles" The clock spoke in place of Lucy again.

"Oh? I think coming out here where it's very cold in….whatever that is, is quite weird enough Lucy." Erza retorted with a smirk.

"'Shut up' she says." The clock spoke again.

Natsu, while enjoying the moment, never truly forgot why they were out here. "As much as this is fun, we must get a move on. No telling what sort of danger Macao could be in."

"Ah! I can't believe I forgot. Please hit me Natsu." Erza requested as she pushed away from Natsu, bowing her head readying for impact.

Lucy's eyes widened at this, not expecting the Titania of Fairy Tail to be so quick to punish herself for menial things. Natsu however, grinned evilly. "Oh I won't hit you." He stated, causing the red-head to look up in confusion.

"You won't?" The equip mage asked in utter confusion.

"Noo…But you can go the rest of the trip without your 'heater' to warm you up." He finished, his already wide grin growing larger upon looking at the expression of utter terror upon Erza's face at the loss of her 'heater'.

"F-fine. That is punishment enough." Erza hesitantly stated almost comically crying.

Natsu smirked and turned around, satisfied with her reaction. "Good! Now let's get Macao back home!" he yelled, throwing his fist up in the air as he began to walk faster than the rest of his team.

**So, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, I know some parts I particularly had some fun writing. For what is going to happen. I do plan on writing some more of my own segments before I further progress into the main story. As to where Gray was at the guild? You'll see in the upcoming chapter(s). Anyways, as always, if you liked the chapter, feel free to favorite, follow, leave a review/comment, and if you have questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews or send them to me over PM and I'll answer them either through PM or in the next update**


	4. Starting the Family & The Mission

**Hello everyone! I hope you had a good Christmas and Happy New Year (assuming you celebrate them, I don't celebrate the latter). I completed this chapter in much less time than the previous chapter(s) so hopefully that and the length (roughly 3,300 words) will make up for how short the previous one was. However, the downside to this is that I may have missed a few more grammatical errors than I usually do (sucks not having an extra pair of eyes to read over my work). As for the chapter, this chapter basically follows from rescuing Macao and the start of the Lullaby Arc with a bit of fun in between as well as some Erza's personality. Anyways, I do hope you enjoy it.**

Talking – "Quotations"

Thoughts –_ 'Italics with contractions'_

Important words, people, etc. – **Bold**

Spells – **Underlined and bold**

_**The Life of a Dragon and Knight**_

_**Chapter 4: Starting the Family & The Mission**_

Dodge, block, retaliate, and inflict non-lethal injuries; rinse and repeat. At least, that was the process a trio of mages found themselves repeating when they found out their guild mate was not exactly hurt or ….captured to say. Instead, the Purple Flare mage was taken over by the Vulcan.

"Are you guys sure it's him!?" Lucy question loudly as she divvied out of the way of the Vulcan's lunge towards her, apparently trying to 'claim' her.

"Positive." Natsu grunted as he ignited his arms with fire. "Smells just like him."

"Aside from that, the behavior towards women is another hint." Erza added as she sent a 'dull' sword flying towards the Vulcan. The Vulcan swiftly dodged the sword and jumped over a flaming fist, courtesy of Natsu, and then proceeded the grab the dragon slayer, ending with the Vulcan throwing him through a hole in the cavern they were in and off the mountain.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, thinking that the fire mage was just thrown to his death by his taken-over guild mate. This however, left her open to another charge from the body snatching Vulcan.

"Don't lose focus Lucy!" Erza commanded as she slammed her body into the Vulcan, now wearing her **Black Wing Armor**. The Vulcan tumbled to a stop and proceed to get up slowly with a visible snarl on its face; obviously upset at yet another unsuccessful attempt at taking the blonde celestial mage for its own.

"He was just thrown off the mountain though." Lucy complained, quite worried for her new friend.

"Trust me. It will take **much **more than that to take Natsu down." Erza replied with a smirk. Right on cue, Natsu appeared at the 'hole' of the cavern, hovering, thanks to his flames providing enough propulsion to keep him up.

"Ok. Enough playing around." Natsu mumbled to himself, now serious. "Come on Macao! Are you really going to let yourself be taken over by **that**?! I thought you were stronger than that!"

This sparked a reaction out of the Vulcan, as it roared to the ceiling. Whether this was Macao trying to regain his body, the Vulcan trying to maintain control, or both getting angry at the 'insult' none of the trio knew, but this did not matter as the creature then charged toward Natsu, intent on making the young mage disappear for good.

Natsu grunted as he arched his still ablaze arms and legs to send him flying towards the charging Vulcan. "**Fire Dragons**" Natsu began to say the name of his attack as his mouth puffed up from inhaling a large amount of air. Natsu waited to the last moment in which the Vulcan wildly flailed its right arm at Natsu hoping to hit, only for the mage to duck under the creatures arm. Now behind the creature Natsu turned around and yelled. "**ROAR!**" A torrent of fire released from his mouth, going straight towards to the Vulcan whom was unable to even react as it was enveloped in fire.

After a short minute, the flames subsided to reveal not a beaten Vulcan, but a badly bruised and slightly burnt blue haired man. "Is he ok?" Lucy asked as she knelt over him.

"He'll be fine. Just unconscious, that's all." Erza answered as she noted his steady breathing. She then turned to Natsu, "You did a good job today Natsu. Especially when you taunted him into attacking wildly."

Natsu simply smirked. "Thanks! However, don't think praising me will get your 'heater' back." He replied with a devious grin upon seeing Erza pout. The two continued to argue playfully until they heard someone groan.

"Ugh, did you have to hit me so hard?" The Flare mage groaned as he woke up to the sight of Natsu and Erza arguing and a blonde teenager looking over him.

The couple stopped their arguing upon this comment, with Natsu turning to the blue haired man. "Nice to you to Macao." He commented with a grin.

"This is embarrassing. Natsu and Erza coming to save me." Macao grumbled as he brought his hand to his face in embarrassment.

"Nonsense." The red haired mage commented. "Vulcans can be tricky creatures to fight."

"I know, but I promised Romeo I would take a lot of them out. I only got 19 before the 20th caught me off guard." The blue haired man lamented.

"19 is still quite impressive. It's not something an average mage could achieve." Erza praised

"I…I see." Macao mumbled. He stared blankly at the cavern ceiling in thought, before he was quickly jerked up suddenly and hauled onto Natsu back. "Ow! Oi! What's the big Idea?!" He comically yelled at the dragon slayer.

"What's it look like? I'm taking you back to Romeo." Natsu jeered with a smirk.

"Can I even get some rest?! I'm quite sore at the moment!" Macao continued to rage.

"Deal with it! You're a man…or am I mistaken?" Natsu laughed as he continued to haul the blue haired mage out the cavern and down the mountain followed by two amused women following.

* * *

><p>To say Romeo was impatient would be understatement but was also a little worried he would be given bad news. To combat this, he tried to keep his mind off recent events by talking to some of the other Fairy Tail members over various things. Later however, he heard a familiar voice call out to him; said voice coming from outside the building.<p>

"Oi! Romeo! Get out here!" the voice called.

"Huh? Is that…?" Romeo began before Mira cut in.

"I believe that is Natsu. It would seem he's back." She answered.

Hope began to fill up in Romeo as he shakily brought himself off the stool from which he sat and slowly walked towards the door. Upon opening it he learned Mira was right. Natsu and his team were back, along with Romeo's Father.

"Look what I found in my travels!" Natsu chirped, with a still 'weak' Macao leaning on his back; the latter responding by jabbing Natsu in the ribs.

Romeo was in awestruck as it took a moment for realization to set in that his father was back. When it did hit him, tears started to well in his eyes and he bolted for his father crying "You're finally back!" as Macao knelt down and let the boy run into his arms, clasping him into a loving embrace.

"Indeed I am…indeed I am." Macao said softly has he continued to hug his son. After a few moments, Macao built up the strength to lift his son onto his shoulders and finally spoke to him. "Let's go home."

Romeo quickly wiped his eyes with his arm, when his arm was removed it revealed a huge smile on his face as he cheered. "Yeah!"

"Oh yeah, when those kids say how lame I am, ask them if their father can take on 19 Vulcans at once. That will shut them up." The Flare Mage smirked, making Romeo beam with pride.

Natsu and Erza watch the scene of the reunion with pride and near envy. Pride that they, along with Lucy were the reason the two were reunited and envy that they were yet to be parents. After bidding the father and son farewell, Erza decided there was more work to be done for the day. "Come Natsu, we have enough funds to get our house built." She stated, grabbing Natsu's collar, as he was about to head into the guild to eat.

"But flaming meat Erza!" Natsu pouted as he struggled to get free, faintly seeing Lucy sitting at the bar ordering food.

"But new family home Natsu." Erza cooed into the dragon slayer's ear, catching his attention. "Flaming meat later. Better yet, I can help you catch some fish."

Natsu quickly perked up at this, Natsu apparently unable to resist the temptation of fish, better when someone offers to help catch them. "Promise?" Natsu asked carefully, thinking it's a trick.

Erza put an 'innocent' smile on her face. "Promise!" She confirmed, giggling as Natsu jumped in the air in joy. Inwardly she was deviously smiling, '_So easily to manipulate. But that innocence of his is irresistible' _she thought. "Now that that's settled, let's get our future home built!" Erza nearly cheered.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>About an Hour Later in the Forest, Outskirts of Magnolia<strong>_

"This is the place where we would like it built." A female voice stated to a middle age man wearing a hard-hat.

"Hmmm, ground is good, no leveling is required. Very well. Is there anything else you require before we begin construction?" The man asked politely, knowing very well who the woman he was talking to was.

Erza on this part, simply turned to Natsu, wanting his input on the matter. "Well, if you can, I would like if you could make the outside walls look…natural." Natsu 'explained' with a bit of nervousness, construction or building a home not his forte', given how crude his current residence is.

The worker looked a bit puzzled at this, and turned to Erza for an explanation. Fortunately, Erza knew what Natsu was trying to ask for. "I think he means make the outside walls look like wood, to give it, as he says, a more natural look." She explained.

"Ah! That's what he meant." The worker nodded in understanding. "Is there anything else?"

Erza turned to Natsu again to see if there was anything they forgot before showing the construction site; Natsu however, shrugged his shoulders, unable to think of anything they missed. Erza then turned back to the man and gave her answer "No. I think that will be all."

"Very well." The worker stated. He was about to turn say his goodbyes until he remembered. "Before I go, you are aware of the payment plan? Half upfront and the rest when the project is finished?" He questioned. Erza gave a confirming nod, pulling out nearly a million jewels to which the man took. "Thank you. Last thing. I'll need a means to contact you."

"It would be best to try to contact me at the Fairy Tail Guild. If either of us are not there, leave a letter to be given to us." The Titania explained. The worker gave a nod in acknowledgment and waved his goodbyes.

"It should hopefully be done in a month. Two at the very most." The worker yelled back as he continued walking away.

"So now we wait. I hate waiting." Natsu stated, with minor annoyance but still held a smile on his face.

"Oh? Who said we had to wait to have a family?" Erza cooed seductively as she leaned into Natsu, catching the fire mage by surprise at her sudden advance.

"Uh, you? You said to get the house built first then start the family." Natsu said, rather flustered.

Erza simply smirked seductively, seemingly expecting this answer. "Indeed I did. But I've come to a conclusion. I hate waiting as well. Besides, it will take at least 9 months before our first child will be born. Long after our future home will be done."

Natsu smirked, suddenly not resisting the red head's advances. "You make it seem like you're already pregnant."

Erza gave a giggle at this. "No. Not yet. That however, won't stop us from trying again…and again….and again until I am." She purred seductively into Natsu's ear. The two of them now forgetting where they are.

"You really have this all planned out." Natsu teased.

"Of course!" Erza chirped, all lust suddenly gone from her. "It **is** one of my dreams you know. Now come!" Erza quickly jerked away from Natsu while hanging on his arm, nearly making the dragon slayer topple over. "We have children to make!" She cheered with utmost determination.

"Where could we possibly do that?" Natsu asked in wonder as he jerked his hand away, always amazed by how Erza fails to think some of her actions through while she criticizes him for the same thing. "Happy is at home, while Fairy Hills isn't exactly a good place for privacy."

"That will be their problem! No one gets in the way of family!" Erza turned the rest of the forest as she yelled, almost challenging the world to prevent her from starting a family.

"It will be your problem when you're kicked out of Fairy Hills." Natsu joked, unaware of the full extent of Erza's willing to go to fulfill her goals.

"Pft. Who needs a bed? We'll just do it in the street or somewhere outsi – "She stopped, before a devious smirk once again appeared on her face. She then turned to Natsu again, who started to sweat at what she just thought of. "Natsu! Strip! We're doing it here!" She commanded. 'No' apparently not being an acceptable answer in this scenario.

To say Natsu was shocked by what Erza was suggesting would be an understatement. '_Apparently I get no say in _this' he thought. He almost missed the by-the-rules S-Class Mage from a year ago. Never suggesting to do something so 'indecent' unless absolutely required. That's not to say he didn't enjoy certain 'aspects' of Erza's current behavior. "W-what? No! I'd rather it be in a bed!" Natsu rejected the suggestion, not taking into consideration of Erza's possible reaction. "Besides, you promised to help me catch fish since you would not let me eat earlier!" Natsu pouted as he finished, now remembering how 'cruel' Erza was at dragging him away before a meal.

Bound by a promise, Erza could not fight back. She simply hung her head for a brief moment before realizing there was always later. "Fine. Let's go catch fish." She finally said with a smile.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>The Next Morning<strong>_

"So Lucy. Have you found yourself a place to live yet?" Erza asked Lucy with utmost curiosity; Natsu and Mira sitting around, listening in the conversation.

"Yes actually! Mira helped me find a place." Lucy chirped happily as she, as well as Natsu and Erza turned to Mira.

"It was fairly cheap too I think. Only 30,000 jewels a month if I remember correctly." Mira explained, not noticing the slight 'deadpanned' look Lucy gave at the mention of how much money she'd have to make. Apparently 30,000 was not 'cheap' in her mind.

Erza took notice of the look and added. "Don't worry Lucy. 30,000 jewels is nothing should you accompany me and Natsu on an S-Class. The reward is well worth it; besides, worst comes to worse we can always help you on a mission and allow you to have the pay.

"Thanks Erza!" Lucy thanked, with Erza nodding with a smile. Lucy then started talking to Natsu about what kind of missions they could do first while Mira leaned over to Erza.

"So. Have you got a house for yourselves?" Mira asked.

Erza caught on quickly to what Mira was implying and answered. "Yes. Natsu and I have a house in construction right now. The person we contracted said it would be about a month to build."

"That's great! Good for you two!" The white haired bartender stated happy for the couple.

"It would appear Gray is back." A young man with a green jacket and orange hair said, noticing a drop in the temperature causing Mira and Erza to stop their conversation.

"Gray? Who is Gray?" Lucy asked rather puzzled.

"Gray is one of our top mages, a definite S-Class Candidate alongside Natsu here." Erza explained. "As well as a childhood friend of ours."

During that moment, Lucy had a short imaginative thought of who Gray was: Imagining a dashing young man, with a sharp tongue that would make an innocent girl like herself faint; a very strong look in his eyes that would make any woman lucky enough to look into them lose themselves in desire. These thoughts continued even as the young man opened the doors to the guild.

"I'm back." The mage voiced out as he walked in. Truth be told, to Lucy, the man did not look bad at all. To any woman, he looked very handsome, his raven colored spiky hair completed with a very muscular chest would be a nice catch. There was one problem however.

"Gray. Your clothes." A random member voiced out, causing the mage to look down and realize what had happened. Gray was wearing only his boxers.

"God dammit." He sighed to himself as he brought his hand to clasp his face. "I didn't just walk through town like that…"

"Uhm, what's his 'problem' there?" Lucy asked Natsu.

Natsu didn't answer, for someone answered before he could comprehend the question. "Subconscious stripping habit." Erza stated with her hand on her face at her friends habits.

"_So much for finding the perfect boyfriend here._" Lucy thought, mentally crossing off another member of the guild she would like to date, now only a few remaining.

"So Gray, how was your mission?" Mira asked in her (near constant) happy voice.

"Ah," Gray sighed, now disregarding his lack of clothes, "it went fine. Though I would like to talk to the Master about something I learned."

Mira frowned somewhat, not liking to give bad news. "I'm afraid the Master had some meetings to attend to."

"I see." Gray noted, before he turned his stare to Natsu and Erza. "Erza, would you care to help with something? I get the feeling something bad might happen."

To Lucy, this seemed a reasonable to request; to ask a comrade for help. To the rest of the guild, however, this was the equivalent of the world ending. Gray never asked for help unless he absolutely had to. Erza, to Gray's surprise, quickly responded. "Sure. I'll help."

"Oi! Ice-Queen! What about me?!" Natsu shouted, suddenly upset that he wasn't asked for help.

"What about you Flame-Brain!?" Gray shouted back, losing his calm demeanor.

"I'm just as strong as you guys! I should be able to help as well!" Natsu answered, trying to get in on the possible action.

"Ha! You're a flea compared to me!" Gray insulted.

"ENOUGH!" Erza quickly yelled. Silencing the pair as they, as well as the rest of the guild, shrunk in fear at the wrath of the Titania. "Now Gray, I think Natsu here is more than elligable to come. If what you think might happen is bad, Natsu should be there to help us." She explained, suddenly all calm.

"F-fine! As long as Flame-Brain doesn't get in my way!" Gray nearly pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest and he turned his head away.

"Good! Would you like to come along as well Lucy?" Erza asked, which caused Gray to turn his head, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Oh? You're a new member?" He asked, Lucy giving him a nod in confirmation. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Gray Fullbuster, and you are…?"

"I'm Lucy." She answered. "And yes, I'll go as well."

"I see. When can you guys get ready?" Gray asked turning his attention to dragon slayer and requip mage.

"All done!" Natsu smirked, holding a bag that contained food and water which was taken from Erza's pocket dimension.

Gray nodded and then turned to Lucy. "And you?" he asked expectantly.

"Oh! I don't need to pack anything. So I can leave whenever." Lucy answered, a bit nervous.

"Then we shall leave now for the train station. The sooner we get **there,** the better." Gray stated as he turned to walk out the door, suddenly clad in black pants and boots.

"Come on Lucy! It will be fun." Natsu said with a happy grin as he pulled on her arm to get her to start following him and Erza to the train station.

"You do realize, we are going to the **train station** right?" Erza smirked as she looked back at Natsu. It took a second to realize for the fire mage to realize what was wrong with this. Then as he realized, he turned green.

"I suddenly don't want to go now…" Natsu groaned, but was unable to back out as Erza now started dragging him out of the guild followed by Lucy.

Mira watching this play out, started pondering to herself. '_It would seem Fairy Tail's strong team has just been formed!'_ she thought in awe.

**That is the end of this chapter! I do hope you enjoy it, and I apologize if there is errors but I lack a person to read over my work to find errors and inconsistencies. Anyways, the next chapter I plan to do PART of the mission, I don't want to write the whole mission out as I lack ideas to make it different from other stories and the canon. So I apologize in advance for those who may have wanted to see my full take on the Lullaby mission. Anyways, as always, if you liked the chapter and story so far, shoot a comment/review, give it a favorite or follow it. If you have any question/suggestions pertaining to the story or anything in general, feel free to shoot me a message. I shall see you all later.**


End file.
